Projects
Training program
Imagine that …
How do you get people ready to act in a crisis if you only have their attention for a few hours every few years?
A different approach to preparedness
Our learning experiences immerse a micro-community, such as a group of neighbors, in a real-time role-playing crisis simulation. They experience some of the shock, confusion, and chaos of crisis. Without any advance preparation, participants must work together to improvise and adapt solutions to realistic challenges.
Learning to act
Our immersive learning experiences engage people in their everyday settings. Our goal is to foster the confidence they need to act in the face of uncertainty, rely on themselves, and improvise creative solutions with strangers. The experience also motivates participants to act on best practices for preparedness.
Learning by discovery
Experience is the best teacher. Our immersive simulations provide a stimulating setting in which people can discover their own capabilities and make mistakes safely. We incorporate live-action roleplay techniques to make experiences fun, and keep participants emotionally and intellectually engaged.
Learning together
Our immersive learning experiences increase social resilience by engaging everyone in the micro-community with challenges that require both individual and collective action. This experience encourages families to assess their own state of readiness, take responsibility for the well-being of their micro-community, and connect to a larger network of community resources.
Whole community learning
Communities that play together before a crisis stay together in a crisis. We work with community organizations to enable them to deliver our immersive learning experiences in their communities. In this way, community organizations forge new connections, deepen their understanding of local needs, and increase community engagement.
See how it works
Training projects
Project
Wildfire readiness
Our main focus right now is on working with a few local communities to develop a new learning experience to help community members be ready to support each other in the face of a wildfire threat — from possible evacuation through return to partially damaged homes.
LEARN MORE about the Wildfire project →
Project (completed)
Earthquake pilots
Our pilot learning experience invites a group of neighbors to “get through” the weeks following a catastrophic earthquake. They solve challenges in their own homes, and around the neighborhood, with only the people and resources at hand.
LEARN MORE about the project →
Project (completed)
Pandemic earthquake
In the midst of disaster, we continue to prepare for disaster. We have adapted our neighborhood earthquake to happen in the presence of COVID-19, and we conduct the simulation by videoconference. Participants face the same challenges, but the neighborhood is virtual.
READ ABOUT the virtual pilot →
From our blog
Two Ways to Prepare to be Unprepared
On the second day of Thanks and Giving, we give to you … two surprising and critical ways to prepare for disaster!
What do you think of when …
2021 Wildfire Advent Calendar complete!
If you didn’t have a chance to follow our very successful 2021 Wildfire Advent Calendar, here is the full list
Ready, Set, Earthquake!
We are very proud to announce the release of our first video, Ready, Set, Earthquake! This short promotional piece …
From our blog
Two Ways to Prepare to be Unprepared
On the second day of Thanks and Giving, we give to you … two surprising and critical ways to prepare for disaster!
What do you think of when …
2021 Wildfire Advent Calendar complete!
If you didn’t have a chance to follow our very successful 2021 Wildfire Advent Calendar, here is the full list
Ready, Set, Earthquake!
We are very proud to announce the release of our first video, Ready, Set, Earthquake! This short promotional piece …
Get involved
Partner
Local community training
We are looking for community-based organizations who would like to engage with local communities using our immersive learning approach. Collaborations will benefit communities by strengthening social resilience, and us by providing the evidence we need to improve learning experiences and community support.
Volunteer
Communication Tools Analyst
Help us find a communication tool that will let us manage live training events.
Details
START
As soon as possible
DURATION
1-3 months
DESCRIPTION
We need a simple and easy-to-use communication platform that supports fun and engaging interaction between participants during training events. Can you help us research existing tools used in gaming, simulation and/or communication and determine if they can be adapted to meet our needs?
Volunteer
Impact researcher
Help us to answer the question: Does playing our Wildfire Board Game actually change what participants do when they get home?
Details
START
As soon as possible!
DURATION
3-6 months
DESCRIPTION
We're looking for a highly motivated researcher — possibly a Master's or PhD student — to design and implement a study to evaluate the short-term outcomes of our wildfire learning experiences. We're actively delivering them, and are ready to insert what's needed to support the research. We'd like to have data by October when community events wind down.
LEARN MORE about this opportunity →
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
— Benjamin Franklin